Developer: Now Production Publisher: Capcom Release: 11/90 Genre: Platformer
What a strange title. Licensed video games have been a staple of the industry since the Atari 2600. I get it, using a hot license to make some easy money is appealing. And when you are a smaller developer sometimes you need a quick hit to keep the lights on. But I find it hard to believe that someone in Japan always dreamed of making a game starring the Domino’s pizza mascot no one remembers. But what do I know? Maybe they really love pizza over there. As far as licensed titles go Yo! Noid is decent for what it is. But it is not exactly something I would go rushing out to buy. I was a complete Capcom whore growing up and I had no trouble leaving this one in the store.
Yo! Noid is a reskin of Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru. Someone at Capcom saw an opportunity to make a quick buck and used the license to promote the goofy looking Domino’s mascot even I barely remember. Why did they do it? Who knows, maybe they really like Domino’s. The name and some of the graphics are different but the gameplay is largely the same. That means you get a somewhat interesting platformer that sadly overstays its welcome. That being said I would gladly play this over Rambo and Jaws.
The Noid’s controls are just as slippery as the goofy bastard looks. Although the game was not developed by Capcom the Noid controls a bit similarly to Mega Man. That means a moderate jump followed by a hard fall. For offense you have a yo-yo that honestly feels useless. It is not strong and has limited range. Luckily combat is minimal in the game. As a holdover from its original incarnation there are three spells found in scrolls. Light Burst kills all enemies, the pizza crusher kills ground based foes, and dark noid increases your speed and jumping height. I will be honest most of the time I forgot they were in the game as they are unnecessary.
As a platformer Yo! Noid is adequate. For the majority of the game it does the bare minimum within the genre. Enemy placement can be tricky at times but not so bad. Some of the floating platforms might trip you up a bit but not too badly. Every so often the Noid hops on a skateboard and auto gyro for some vehicle hijinks. These are short excursions that break up the pace nicely. Toward the end of the game the level design gets better; to the point I wish the earlier stages were as good. That seems to be the game’s problem; at fourteen stages it is long but does not have enough good ideas to support that length. If they trimmed the fat so to speak this would be much better.
The most interesting part of the game is the pizza eating contest. These are essentially the game’s version of boss battles. Every two levels you face off against a Noid imposter in an eating contest. Your opponent will choose a random numbered card and you have the chance to pick the same card to end in a draw or higher to win. The first to fill their bar wins. Or alternatively if you expend all cards whoever has eaten more wins. These start simple at first but become hard toward the end. The game expects you to discover all the card based power-ups in the levels to stand a chance. These cards are hidden in the environment and unless you consult a FAQ will never find them. As much as I like this part of the game the frequency with which it pops up makes it tedious.
I think most will be surprised to find Yo! Noid is more difficult than most of its ilk. You die in a single hit and enemy placement is tricky. The game pulls out all the platforming tricks and it can feel cheap at times. Unfortunately there are no checkpoints and the levels can run long, especially toward the end. Restarting from the beginning is a little soul crushing and this is a long game at fourteen levels. With a mere three continues you will have to work to complete this one. The only problem is the repetition will kill your drive to do so.
In Closing
Yo! Noid is decent for what it is. But when you share company with a legendary library of Capcom titles decent does not cut it. I will give them credit, they chose a good title to reskin which ensures some quality at the very least. Seeing what Capcom were doing with the Disney license I can only imagine what could have been however.
